The National Inventory of Dams database, a great basic CAR story tool, is in danger. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which collects the data, is now denying any updates, citing "national security." The data include dam maintenance and safety records, plus information on structure, composition and owner. It includes records for almost 80,000 dams, based on data through collected through 2002. The database can help reporters examine the dam owners and inspectors accountability for threats to public safety.

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• Story No. 14250: By national standads, 1,228 dams in Missouri should have Emergency Action Plans to help with the evacuation of people living downstream if the dam should fail. According to the state's own records, only 33 do. When KOMU tried to verify that at least those 33 actually did have the plans on file, only three were found.
• Story No. 16170: A Des Moines Register investigation revealed that "state officials have failed to inspect major dams across Iowa since 1990 despite a state law requiring such checks."
• Story No. 22793: There are several "high hazard" dams in Maryland which the state Department of the Environment considers unsafe and a threat to public safety. Some of these dams are in imminent danger of failing. A "high hazard" dam indicates that a collapse would cause loss of life and damage to residential, industrial or agricultural areas, public utilities and infrastructure. The story detailed lax enforcement of rules and regulations when a dam owner is told by state inspectors to fix problems.

• Tipsheet No. 2424: Davidson breaks this tipsheet into two sections: bridges and dams. For each part, he first suggests possible issues to investigate, and then makes some suggestions on how to proceed. For example, one of his suggestions for dams is an investigation of whether or not local dams have emergency action plans in place. The suggestions on how to proceed include various helpful websites, as well as tips on data analysis.
• Tipsheet No. 2653: Porter describes various data-based stories that make good broadcast investigations, including campus crime and dams. Porter describes the data needed for each story, and then gives examples of how stations have run those types of stories in the past.